Fox In The Flesh
by KingKaze
Summary: When Kurama etched a fraction of its soul into Naruto's being at a young age, it brought about heightened senses and reflexes. But it also gave Naruto another nasty little trait that every demon has in common. NaruAnko A lot of gore and a fair amount of swearing, don't read if you're at all squeamish.
1. The blood cry

The trip had been rather uneventful which was good for the ninja that were escorting the bridge builder, Tazuna, to Nami no Kuni, where they would protect him until the bridge could be completed. The three Genin were walking right behind their Jounin Sensei Hatake Kakashi as they made their way to the ferry port to catch a boat to the island nation; Naruto was reading a book and nibbling on a piece of jerky while conversing lightly with Sasuke and Sakura was talking to Tazuna about his family. All in all it was peaceful as far as ninja saw it, no combat, and no dire situations. "Alright guys, we're at the port, let's get on one of these boats and go." Tazuna said, moving to untie the mooring line to a small boat and grabbing a paddle.

Wave was a dump, beggars and those who weren't far off from them milled aimlessly up and down the streets, looking for the tiniest scrap of food. Buildings that were once shops were now boarded up and the words 'No Stock' were painted in bold red letters on the walls. "This is what Gato has done to us. We were once prosperous but that fat bastard's shipping tycoon has sucked us completely dry." Tazuna grunted under his breath.

"All those people…" Sakura said as a woman no older than twenty grabbed the hem of her shirt. "Please, you must help my baby! She's not breathing!" in the woman's arms was a swaddled baby that looked almost skeletal. Kakashi walked over and looked at the baby only to cringe inwardly as he felt how cold the obviously dead infant was. "I'm sorry ma'am…" Kakashi said softly, "She's dead, there's nothing we can do…" This sent the woman into a fit of delirium as she clutched the corpse closer to her. Sakura could only watch on in horror while Sasuke turned away, not wanting to witness the woman further plunge into utter devastation.

When Sasuke turned, he saw Naruto standing there with his nose buried into his book, the glare of the sun catching his thin rimmed glasses, hiding his eyes. But upon further inspection, Sasuke noticed Naruto's hand as it bled slightly. Naruto was digging his nails into his palm, trying to calm himself as every wail from the woman seemed to cause him to tighten up further. He finally snapped the book shut and walked over to the distraught woman, fluidly wrapping her into a tight hug. "What was her name?" he spoke softly as the woman's shoulders shook, "M-Moe…her n-name was..Moe.." Naruto released her from the hug and looked her in the eyes, a fire in his own that seemed to warm her otherwise cold soul, "He _will_ Suffer for what he has done here. Tell everyone you know that no more will have to die because of him. Your daughter will not have died in vain."

The woman couldn't help but let more tears escape as Naruto stood up, the sun just barely breaking through the clouds. Through the woman's delirium, she caught the way that the shinobi were positioned behind the rays of light that were puncturing through the thick barrier of clouds, "Are you Kami's saviors?" The woman asked, her voice still rather shaky. "No ma'am" Naruto answered with the shake of the head, "only Shinobi."

The group hit the trail once again, Naruto buried in his book and the other two Genin glancing over to him every once and a while. Finally, Kakashi walked back over to Naruto, "That was very well said back there, Naruto." Naruto didn't lift his eyes from the book as he flipped the page, "it is an unspoken duty for shinobi to instill hope where it is needed most. the world's foundation would be filled with holes if that wasn't done, and a foundation that is filled with holes is bound to collapse." Kakashi could only smile at the very astute comment, _'_ _Definitely his kid'_.

A rustle from the brush on the side of the road put everyone into defensive positions around Tazuna. Everyone collectively let out a breath as a white rabbit hopped from a bush into the road, twitching its nose as it smelled around. "It's just a rabbit.." Sasuke muttered under his breath. "Yeah, one with a winter coat…" Naruto threw Sakura to the ground as a large sword flew right over their heads. Sakura would have been decapitated had Naruto not moved in. "Keh, good observation, blondie." Said a man that sat atop the sword as a platform as it stuck from a tree. "Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, and one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen." Kakashi said almost as if reciting a bingo book entry. "I'm honored that you know who I am, Sharingan no Kakashi."

Zabuza flitted through a few hand signs, and mist began to permeate the area, blocking everyone's field of vision. "Now…" Zabuza said as he withdrew his sword from the tree, "Let's do this."

Kakashi knelt to one knee as he felt the chakra exhaustion wash over him, his breath ragged and his muscles shaking from over-exertion. "Let's face it, Hatake, you were no match for the demon of the mist, your time to die is now!" Zabuza lifted the massive cleaver over his head and swung down hard, however, instead of Kakashi, the blade dug deeply into Naruto's body from the neck down into his chest cavity diagonally. He had pushed his teacher out of the way. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed out as she fell to her knees, Sasuke was speechless as his eyes widened, "Shit! Dobe!" Kakashi was nearing a blackout but caught a glimpse of the blood.

Endless…endless waves of blood

Zabuza tilted his head to the side in confusion but proceeded to guffaw uncontrollably as he held the sword there. "Too bad for blondie here, throwing his life away like this. It was rather pointless though, because I'm still going to come after you, Hatake!" Zabuza had his eyes transfixed on the silver haired Jounin but as he tried to lift the blade from Naruto's body, it wouldn't budge. He looked back to see that a hand was holding the blade in place as Naruto's head lifted to show two ferocious red slitted eyes staring right back at Zabuza, "That hurt…." A pulse of superheated chakra ran up the blade and right to the mist-demon's hand, causing him to relinquish his grip on the blade with a grunt. "Saa…You call yourself a demon, yes?"

Zabuza could barely contain his shock as Naruto pulled the massive sword from his body and flung it off to the side where Zabuza couldn't reach it. "Well, you have the right idea…" sickening sounds of popping and gushing filled the atmosphere as Naruto's wound began to mend, muscle could be seen re-attaching as bones joined together, finally being wrapped up in a fresh layer of pink skin where the mortal wound _had_ been. "But let me teach you what a r **ea** l de **mon i** s." The last few words escaped Naruto's lips in a detuned fashion as he felt the raw power course through his veins.

Naruto dashed forward, leaving a small crater where he stood, and slashed out at Zabuza, slicing the Jounin's arm open. This opened the man's defense up which allowed Naruto to go to town, ripping this way and that as he began to tear Zabuza up. Before Naruto could kill him though, three senbon made their way to Zabuza's neck, rendering him unconscious. Naruto ceased in his attacks and the power circulating him receded slowly, dropping him to a knee as he felt his own body begin to give in. "Thank you for disposing of Zabuza for us, I will now dispose of his body for you." Naruto looked up and recognized the masked intruder as a Kiri Oi-nin. The Oi-nin picked up Zabuza's body and his sword before disappearing.

Naruto of course didn't care, losing consciousness before his head even hit the dirt.

"He's waking up!" Sakura whispered excitedly, bringing both Kakashi and Sasuke over to Naruto's bed-side. Naruto felt like he was on fire, mainly the area that was hit by Zabuza. "W-where am I?" He said as he slowly sat up. "We're in Tazuna's home, and by what I heard, you did quite a number on Zabuza." Naruto blinked as he recalled the events leading up to his blackout, "Yeah, an Oi-Nin came by and scooped him up." Kakashi went from smiling to worry in only a few seconds, "Then that wasn't an Oi-Nin, they're supposed to dispose of the body on-sight. We could be seeing more of them soon." The room was silent before they all heard a knock on the door. "Dinner is ready you guys, and if Naruto-kun is feeling up to it, he can join us?" the group looked over to Naruto who was already up, slipping a black shirt over his torso. "Yeah, lets go."

The group sat at the table as food was being placed on small trays, "I know it's not much, but to be honest, it's all there is." The woman said as she joined the rest who were already eating. "It's very good Tsunami-san, thank you!" Sakura said as she savored the taste of the eel, wondering if she could garner a recipe from the woman. Naruto quickly ate and dismissed himself from the table to the bathroom where he promptly wretched the food back up. "God damn fox, you could've at least made it to where I could eat normal food for once." He muttered under his breath as another heave wracked his body. **"** **You already know that Its unhealthy for demons to eat human food, you acknowledged this when I imparted my instincts to you."** Kurama was right, the fox demon had given Naruto everything, from a heightened sense of smell, hearing, and sight, to enhanced flexibility. There was one catch to the deal however, one that caused instances such as this to occur. Naruto could eat only one thing and that one thing was a bit more…unorthodox

 _Humans._

Naruto didn't mind terribly, he even enjoyed killing for sustenance, being sure to only eat those who deserved It, and he began to enjoy the scent of blood greatly. "I could just eat that Gato fucker, by what I hear, he sounds nice and juicy." Naruto licked his lips as his mouth began to water slightly, "I also got a few drops of blood in my mouth from Zabuza, amazing if you ask me. His flesh might have been slightly more chewy, but still…" a knock on the door of the bathroom snapped Naruto from his hushed dialogue with the fox. With a flush of the toilet, he opened the door to find Kakashi standing there. "Are you alright? I heard retching when I came up here." Naruto nodded, "Yeah, something just wasn't sitting in my stomach right, I think I should just rest more." Kakashi nodded before walking back to his room, "Oh yeah, Naruto." Naruto turned his head to look up to the Jounin. "We start training tomorrow, and I've already told the team. We have about a week or so before we have to deal with Zabuza again, we need to be prepared." Naruto nodded before making his way into the room he was sharing with Sasuke, the Uchiha was sitting against the wall while sharpening one of his kunai.

"You feeling alright?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the blade. "Yeah, just something I ate probably." Naruto replied as he sat on his futon. The blond then whipped out a small yellow book with "The World's most famous orations" written in bold black letters along with a few sticks of beef jerky, at least…that's what everyone else _thought_ it was. "yeah, I don't think my body was agreeing with that Unagi as well, I never really liked eel to begin with." Naruto simply chuckled as he munched on the 'beef' stick.

A solid week and a half had passed and as to be expected, Zabuza turned up on the bridge alongside his accomplice, labeled 'Haku', and had wrung out more of a fight than anyone would have garnered. Kakashi was locked in battle with Zabuza, and Sasuke and Naruto were both caught in a massive ice mirror technique with Haku. Sakura, being the least-heaviest hitter, was tasked with guarding Tazuna.

"There is no point in trying to escape, Shinobi-San, I will grant you a quick death, as I do not take pleasure in killing." Haku stated flatly as he now occupied every mirror. "Sasuke!" Naruto caught the Uchiha before he could hit the ground, senbon needles sticking out of him every which way. "D-don't lose focus…Dobe.." he said before unconsciousness took him. Naruto checked for a pulse and found a weak one, telling him that he needed to get out of there quickly. "you will befall the same fate, your life is forfeit!" Haku threw a myriad of senbon at the young blond but gasped as none of them successfully connected, in fact, they all froze mid-air before firing back, cracking every mirror before the entire jutsu broke altogether.

Haku was lying on the ground trying to sit up when he felt a weight slam him back down to the ground. "No, I believe it is the other way around…" Naruto said as a truly frightening grin creased his features, "I like cold cuts, the cold makes the meal that much more… _refreshing…._ Itadakimasu! _"_ Naruto opened his salivating maw wide before viciously biting into the imposter Oi-nin's shoulder with a horrid crunching noise. As Kakashi was too ensnared in his current fight with Zabuza, that left Tazuna and Sakura to watch on in horror as Naruto ripped sizeable chunks of flesh from Haku's neck and chest area, swallowing and slurping up stray strands of muscle. **"** **Simply Divine, Ningen, a swell kill."** Kurama admired as he was able to taste what Naruto was tasting. "I concur, not too chewy, but very firm." The boy muttered in between bites.

Looking at the sizable chunk that was taken out of the now dead ninja, Naruto eyeballed the heart that was still twitching in his chest. "How do you feel about dessert, Kurama?" he heard a snicker from the old fox, **"** **I thought you'd never ask."** Naruto took the slippery organ into his palm and quite literally ripped it from its fixed position, sending blood all across the ninja's and Naruto's face. Naruto once again bit down as he took in the flavor of the warm muscle, shuddering euphorically at the taste. "Please tell me you're tasting this, Kurama!" He shouted out, finally garnering the attention of the two fighting nin. **"** **Every…last…bite!"** Kurama replied earnestly.

Naruto stood his feet as he finished the heart with a gulp of finality before wiping his mouth with a clean bit of his sleeve, "Gochisosamadeshita" he muttered under his breath as he glared at the wide-eyes missing-nin. "Oh don't worry…I left room for _you."_ Zabuza could do nothing as Naruto was already right in front of him, slashing out with sharpened claws, this time he would actually kill the missing nin. Zabuza screamed horrendously as a large chunk of muscle was completely ripped out from his core, in which Naruto began to munch on, "Better than I expected, still just a bit tough." Zabuza fell to one knee and was breathing raggedly, "W-what the fuck are you!?" he barked out, squinting under the pain of having a portion of himself unceremoniously ripped away.

"Oooooh, that's a good question, Momo-Kun!" Naruto said jovially as he approached the downed Jounin, leaning to eye level. "I'm a hunter, and you, my precious little morsel." Naruto grasped Zabuza's neck and began to tighten his grip, "are the _prey."_ The infamous 'Demon of the Mist' met his end in the same fashion as his subordinate…a hole the size of someone's head in his chest. "What a buffet it has been, don't you agree, Kurama?"

 **"** **A buffet indeed, Ningen, a buffet indeed!"** Naruto then turned heel before briskly walking back over to Sasuke, "Sasuke-Kun, are you still with me here?" he placed a hand on the unconscious Uchiha's neck and sighed with relief as the weak pulse was still there, "Sakura-Chan, go get Tsunami-San. Sasuke-Kun is still alive, but he needs immediate medical attention." The aforementioned pinkette had just recovered from spilling the contents of her lunch from watching the horrid display of cannibalism, looking at Naruto with widened eyes, "What? Do I have something on my face or in my teeth? Go get Tsunami-San, hurry!" Sakura nodded dumbly and ran off as Kakashi approached him "N-Naruto-Kun…." Naruto held a hand up to stop him before he could ask anything, "I'll explain soon, but in the mean-time, I believe we have a teammate to attend to.

"Oh thank Kami, I don't have to actually pay him!" The two remaining Shinobi tensed as a new voice filled the silence, "It looks like you really did a number on him though, I must commend your handiwork." Gato said as he nudged the corpse next to him with his cane. "You're Gato? Well I take back what I said about eating you, you look absolutely putrid!" Naruto said as he stood to face the bulbous old man and his entourage. "What did you just say, brat?" Naruto rolled his eyes as he stepped up to the man, crossing his arms, "I said you look unappetizing, It's a good thing I ate out of both of them though, they were rather filling."

Gato's group all went wide in the eyes as they looked back down to the corpse, noticing how there were a few _bite marks_ lining its flesh around the wound. "A cannibal? Keh! I've dealt with worse, kill them!" the men rushed in before they abruptly halted, looking at the entry way of the bridge. A large group of citizens with cleavers and pitchforks were standing just before the archways, chanting death threats and obscenities to the opposing side, "We've had enough, Gato! We're ready to cut you down if it means we can be at peace once again!" Naruto's ears perked up at the ever familiar voice of the woman they had encountered when they had first entered wave. He turned and smiled as he saw her at the front of the group, clutching a woodcutters axe tightly.

Naruto took this opportunity to kick back and effectively break one of Gato's legs at the kneecap, disabling him indefinitely. "Good people of Nami no Kuni!" Naruto said loudly as he stepped out of the way, "He's all yours!" the crowd charged in at full strength, effectively scaring the piss out of the few offending thugs that gato had brought with him.

Oh this conflict was _definitely_ over.

The trip back to Konoha took much less time, but it was silent. Sakura gave a few nervous glances to Naruto every once and a great while, and Kakashi opted to read silently, trying to keep the gore from his mind. "What's got them so on edge?" Sasuke asked quietly as they ran. Naruto simply sighed, "I'll tell all of you when we get back to the village."

They came up to the gates where Kakashi zipped off to the Hokage Tower immediately after checking them in, leaving the three behind to stew in each others' presence, "I believe we should go there as well, We'll be much safer in discussing things." Naruto said. Sakura and Sasuke nervously nodded their heads as they followed suit in high-tailing it to the office of the Hokage.

"Yes, come in!" Naruto stepped into the office, followed by Sasuke and Sakura as Kakashi sat back down into his seat, "Ah, we were just talking about you three, come in, I believe there is something Naruto needed to say to you all?" Hiruzen said as calmly as possible. The three nodded and took there places before the Sandaime cast a privacy barrier about them. "Alright, what Naruto is about to tell you is an S class secret to everyone born after the Kyuubi's attack that aren't old enough remember it. This secret IS punishable by death so it is in your best interest to keep these things in this room, am I clear?" Everyone except Kakashi and Naruto nodded before Hiruzen gestured to Naruto who piped up. "Well any and all rumors people have about me being the demon child are true, I am the holder of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Sasuke and Sakura were in shock, unbelieving of the young boy's status of Jinchuuriki, "Before you go hating me or spitting on me, I will tell you now that I merely _hold_ it and I am not the demon itself."

Sakura couldn't handle it, she shot up out of her chair and pointed an accusatory finger at the blond, "I fucking _knew_ it! That's why my parents always told me to stay away from you!" Naruto could only blanch; this was the _last_ reaction he wanted from her. "S-Sakura-Chan, please…." He was harshly interjected by the pinkette, "No! Don't fucking talk to me, you…you _demon_! I don't want you to turn and eat me too!" Sakura dropped her arm and opened the door to the office, slamming it behind her as she booked it. "Don't worry, I have ANBU following her right now. If she decides to talk to anyone about it, they will be detained."

Naruto pushed his glasses back up and looked down, "I prepared for that reaction, I just never thought…." Naruto jolted slightly when Sasuke put a hand on the blond's shoulder, "She just can't comprehend much at the moment. She watched you do whatever it was that you did to those two ninja which spooked her, on top of her being fatigued from the mission. Give it time, Naruto-Kun." Naruto simply nodded, thankful that Sasuke was able to remain calm. Kakashi looked over at the Hokage and nodded before turning back to Naruto. "Naruto-Kun, we prepared a contingency in the event that the team wouldn't work out after finding out about your…'tenant'" Naruto looked up at Kakashi with widened eyes before Hiruzen chipped in. "There is only one other person that carries a similar burden to you. Not in the sense that she has a demon within her, but that the actions of another garnered the villages hatred of her."

Hiruzen held up a hand as if giving a signal and the door opened, revealing a woman who looked no older than about seventeen. She wore a tan trench coat over a fishnet top and shorts a that ran to just above her knees, and her shapely legs were armored with two shin guards and shinobi sandals that cut off a the middle of the calf. "Naruto, meet your new Jounin Sensei, Mitarashi Anko." This solicited a gasp from both Naruto and Sasuke as Anko dashed over to Naruto and leaned over the couch to wrap her arms over his shoulders; in turn squishing Naruto's head into her supple chest, "Isn't this going to be fuuuun. Naruto-Kun? We get to do all sorts of fun shit; like train, train, and train some more!" she nuzzled her face into his neck and inhaled deeply, "Oh yes! I could get used to this scent!"

Kakashi and Sasuke were for the lack of a better term, _speechless._ Sasuke put as much distance as he could between the crazy woman and himself without actually leaving the couch, and Kakashi couldn't help but sigh with longing, wishing he could be in Naruto's shoes right now with a very beautiful Kunoichi pressed against him. "Anko-San, the boy is only thirteen, don't get any funny ideas." Hiruzen said flatly. Anko seemed to pout at this an crossed her arms, "Oh, don't be like that Saru-Chan, I was only fucking around is all."

If everyone was shocked, they were absolutely floored by the young Genin's reaction. "Oh, your smell is just as enticing Anko-Sensei." He vanished from the couch and reappeared right in front of the Kunoichi, his cerulean blue meeting her coffee brown, "But the taste would simply be… _riveting."_ He said as he licked his lips gingerly. Anko was also just as floored, having expected the Genin to piss himself, but here he was, returning the jests in full. "Oh we're going to get along just fine, you and me." A few more words were passed about as a contract was signed, handing Naruto from team seven to Anko.

Oh what a change this would bring in our blond hero.

If Kakashi was even considered harsh in his training regiments, Anko was a complete masochist. She sat upon Naruto's back and carved slight nicks on the bare flesh only to watch them heal instantly as he did pushups for hours on end, and she would whip him up and down with a scourge if he didn't run fast enough. Naruto even went as far as to begin _enjoying_ the pain, but kept his act up, as not to lead Anko on to his developing pain fetish.

After the second month of training together, they had been sent on their first mission which put them near an encampment of bandits of Hi no Kuni. A simple C-rank clearing mission that would be a guaranteed success given both team members' skillsets. "You ready, Gaki? I haven't really seen you in action yet and I feel like this would be a good chance to observe, I'll of course step in if shit gets thick." Naruto's face went from a neutral bored look, to that of sickening elation and his eyes closed to allow room for the massive grin that nearly split his face, "Waaakaaariii-yo, Anko-Sensei!" Naruto said, mocking a salute. "You ready, Kurama?"

 **"** **On with the feast, boy!"** Naruto let out a low cackle that permeated the forest all around, scaring off birds and other fauna, and also causing the sentries posted around the encampment to shudder; even Anko felt a tinge of fear in the form of a pulse down her spine. "Saa.." Naruto said as he crouched, ready to pounce, "I-ta-da-ki…" He jumped to the ground right in front of a sentry no older than fifteen before reaching up and tearing into the boy's larynx with his maw before he could scream, "masu!" he swallowed the flesh he had bitten off and moved to the now alert guards. "Did you fucking see that, he just tore straight into Kaito's neck and _ate_ that shit!" one of the bandits said as he thrusted his pitchfork tauntingly. "Don't be discouraged, it's just a kid!" Naruto wiped the blood from his mouth with a sleeve. "There's one thing all of you should remember…" Naruto disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind one of the bandits before biting into his neck, eating the chunks he ripped off as the man fell to the ground screaming.

"Never!" Naruto jumped to the next bandit with just as much force and plunged his hand into the frightened man's chest with sharpened claws, pulling a still-beating heart out before mawing down on it, "Interrupt a demon." He used the downed bandit as a spring board and caught the leader's sword with his hand, "during a meal!" Naruto squeezed the blade and it snapped in two only for Naruto to shove the broken piece into the taller man's skull, instantly ending his life. Naruto crouched down and began chowing down on the bandit leader's shoulder. Naruto had no Idea why, but he always loved to start there, it felt practical.

"G-Gaki?" The squelching and crunching stopped as Naruto looked over to Anko, a piece of lung still in his mouth. He promptly swallowed it and stood up, wiping his mouth "Gochisosamadeshita!" he said jovially as he approached his sensei. "Hiruzen never said anything about you being a fucking cannibal!" Naruto's jovial features ceased and turned into a look of pain as he pushed his glasses up and looked down, "So you're just gonna see me as a demon like the rest, huh?" Anko approached her blond charge and placed a hand on his bloody cheek, prompting him to look up. "I just wanted to say…" she slowly bent down and the tip of her soft tongue up Naruto's exposed cheek, licking some of the blood away. "That you are probably one of the best students that I have ever fucking worked with." Anko wrapped a single arm around Naruto's shoulder as she pulled him in to her side, standing really only about a half a foot under her.

"Oh we're going to make a great team, Naruto-Kun!"

 **AAAAAAANNNND NaruAnko! This is definitely a change in scenery from TWTCB, yeah? (I felt that I needed a bit of a break from that story anyway, I'm trying to actually write ahead and brainstorm for the next chapter.) What it do, B? It's KingKaze here and WELCOME to the twisted little fantasy in my head known as, "Fox in the flesh!" I wanted to do a NaruAnko but had absolutely no Idea how to go about it. And after watching more than a few episodes of Tokyo Ghoul, I found inspiration by making Naruto a sick cannibal through the influence of his furry friend, Kurama!. I always did enjoy the "Normal on the outside, batshit crazy on the inside" approach to Naruto so I went with just that!**

 **Please review and tell me what you think, any criticism is welcome, let's just keep it reasonable, straight up flame is a waste of time for me personally, as to where I could be spending my time reading reviews that actually HELP me.**

 **(also, just imagine Ichimaru Gin's smile for the smile that Naruto gives Anko when she asks him to kill the bandits.)**

 **Kaze out!**

 **Translations:**

 **Itadakimasu:** 'I gratefully accept' said before a meal in Japanese culture

 **Gochisosamadeshita:** 'Thank you for the meal/feast' said after a meal in Japanese culture.

 **Wakaruyo:** A playful form of 'Wakarimasu' meaning, "I understand"

 **Jinchuuriki:** 'The power of human sacrifice' a label given to those who hold one of the nine 'Bijuu' (or tailed beast) in their souls.


	2. The chuunin

**Disclaimer:**

 ***See's the Naruto franchise and tries to grab it, only for Kishimoto to pull it away with a fishing rod***

 **Kishimoto (Dressed in a fisherman's outfit): Oh, you almost had it, gotta be quicker than that.**

 **(I don't own Naruto or the State Farm insurance firm.)**

* * *

Naruto woke up that morning as the sun's rays hit him square in the eyes, soliciting a flinch and groan from the young boy. He arose from his bed and scratched at his scalp, wincing at how his body creaked and groaned due to the extreme training that Anko had been putting him under lately. As he walked into his bathroom to perform his morning rituals, he felt that today was somehow different from the rest and the young blond had absolutely no clue why, almost as if something were happening…. ' _Shit!'_ he thought as he was brushing his teeth, ' _The Chuunin exams are starting today, I better hurry the fuck up!'_

Anko had put Naruto in to the registry as a solo file, which was rare, yet completely legal as there was no minimum to how many could participate, even if there wasn't a three man cell. He pulled on his black compression boxers and tank top before sliding the full black neoprene tight suit around him. It was simple and the collar could be pulled over the face, similar to how Kakashi had his tailored, except that Naruto would only put his up in the field. He then threw on black olive drab shinobi cargo pants, and clasped an armored vest over his top that reached down a little past the midriff and contained many pockets, similar to most ANBU operatives. This outfit was topped off with black armored wrist guards and black fingerless gloves.

He tied some of his unruly hair back into a small pony tail that only reached down to the nape of his neck and let a few bangs fall over his face. As much as the Kyuubi had honed his sight, Naruto still needed glasses for seeing things close up, as the enhanced sight only really worked at a distance, so Naruto pushed his thin rimmed glasses up to his face and gave himself a onceover in the mirror. "You handsome fucking devil, let's go rock this thing, Kurama." He said to himself to get psyched, **"** **I concur! Happy hunting, Ningen."**

Naruto walked out of the front door after grabbing a few sticks of jerky and his utility pack which attached to his vest on the back. The cool Konoha breeze brushed against his face and he took a deep breath before heading to the academy to take the first phase of the Chuunin exams.

* * *

The academy was still pretty empty as Naruto had arrived about ten minutes before call-time, so he opted to sit in the lobby, pulling a small book seemingly out of thin air. "Of course you'd be early, Dobe." Naruto merely grinned as Sasuke sat next to him, munching lightly on an apple. "I couldn't exactly remember call time, so I just decided to get here whenever." Naruto replied as he nibbled on the 'beef' jerky. "Even if you risked being late?" Sasuke asked, a small grin playing his features, "Hey, this isn't the only opportunity I have to take the exams." The blond replied as he turned the page of his book.

"Alright, I'm only going to ask this once, so give me a reasonable answer." Naruto looked up from his book and noticed that Sasuke was looking straight at him, "What does human taste like?" he asked in a more hushed tone. "Eh?" Naruto narrowed his eyes before he guffawed for a healthy ten seconds or so, "What's so funny?" The Uchiha asked, a scowl on his face, "Nothing, it's just your face when you asked. You seemed so intent on finding out." He giggled to himself a bit more before regaining his composure, "But if you must find out." Naruto produced a stick of jerky and tore a piece off before handing it over to him, "Try it for yourself."

Sasuke blanched at the thought of eating another human, not knowing what part of the body that jerky even came from. He then realized that maybe it wouldn't hurt just to try it before he reluctantly took the piece in a ginger hand, and popped it into his mouth. "I can see why you can pass it off as beef, because it isn't very far off." Naruto chuckled as he shrugged, "What were you expecting?" Sasuke sat back against the wall and swallowed the morsel, "No clue…chicken maybe?" Naruto smirked sadistically before once again turning the page in his book, "Nah, that's more or less what the elderly taste like. That right there was from the thigh of a death row inmate. He was only twenty and was a virgin." Sasuke held his hand over his mouth with wide eyes, trying not to let the contents of his stomach come back up, "Alright, you can stop talking now." Sasuke said as he dipped his head lower to his knees to alleviate the nausea. Naruto merely laughed again before noticing that more people had filed into the lobby.

Ever since Sakura had her little "Meltdown" she had been uneasy, but apologized nonetheless, even if she still didn't like the idea of Naruto's eating habits. She had been a bit more understanding when Naruto told her that he really didn't have a choice in the matter, and only bad people were his targets. However that didn't fix the fact that Naruto was no longer on team seven, as the papers had already been signed. Sakura walked over to Sasuke but gulped slightly as she also saw Naruto sitting next to him while they conversed, eating what appeared to be a simple jerky stick (however, she knew better.)

"I think it's call time, Sasuke-Kun, we should go try and find Kabuto." Sakura said, soliciting a grunt from the Uchiha as he got up to dust himself off, "I'll catch you later, Dobe." Sasuke said, Naruto replied with a lazy flick of the wrist in a mock salute as he himself got up, closing his book and stowing it in one of the many pockets of his.

* * *

"Alright brats, listen up! I'm the proctor of the first phase, Morino Ibiki." Some of the Chuunin audibly gulped at the man's sturdy and intimidating tone. "Welcome to the first phase of the Chuunin exams. It is a simple written test that you will have an hour to complete. All of you will have ten points between your whole team; every wrong answer deducts a point from the team's overall score, and cheating deducts three. You do well to remember that." He coughed into his hand before finishing his spiel. "when the score reaches zero, the entire team will be disqualified, regardless of who was getting wrong answers or cheating. Now begin!"

Paper shuffling and pen clicking signified the start of the test, and Naruto smirked at the first five questions, _'_ _Cryptograms? Very sneaky, very sneaky indeed.'_ Naruto silently thanked the Sandaime Hokage for getting him into literature at such an early age. The test went by in a breeze and Naruto was among the first to finish with the drop of the pen and a huff. Many teams had been asked to leave, but luckily Sasuke and Sakura were still in the running, happy that their new teammate, this Kabuto character, was competent. "Alright, pens down, it's time for the tenth question." Ibiki snickered before walking back up to the front of the room, "The tenth question is very difficult. If you get it wrong you will be disqualified and will never have the ability to rise to Chuunin ever again!" The room broke out into a series of whispers and groans of irritation, giving Ibiki a reason to slam his hand down on the desk.

"However! If you feel that you will get the question wrong and want another chance, you may leave the room and come back the next time the exams are held. It is up to you!" many teams left the room and at the end of it all, only eight teams, plus Naruto were left. Ibiki huffed and sat back in his chair. "For the teams that have remained? You all pass the first phase of the exam." Ibiki stood back up and sat on the edge of the desk at the front of the room, snickering once again, "You must be willing to take risks, and embrace the unknown. You have shown me that you all are capable of doing so and are on the fast track to becoming Chuunin, but do _not_ think that it gets easier from here. Because-…" Ibiki was cut off promptly as a loud crash resonated from the side of the room; four shuriken pinned a large white banner to the wall followed by a certain purple haired, coffee eyed kunoichi. "The ever sexy and single Mitarashi Anko is here to tell you, that I am the proctor of the second phase!" The Chuunin hopefuls were deathly silent as a single groan followed by the sound of a facepalm rang out. Naruto could be seen leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose, wondering how he could have such a strange sensei. "You all have a two hour lunch break and at three on the dot, I want all of you at training ground forty-two, do I make myself clear?"

The crowd remained still which garnered a tic mark on Anko's forehead, "That means get your asses moving!" The room quickly cleared, leaving Naruto in the back of the room, "Oh Naru-Kun, Didn't your sweet, sweet, sensei just tell you to get lost?" Naruto rolled his eyes, "I remembered that I have a coupon for dango at Ichiraku, but I don't know. Maybe I should just ask Ino or maybe even Sakura, if my sensei was to decli-…" he was cut off as Anko grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him fervently to said ramen stand.

* * *

"Oh, Naruto-Kun!" Ayame smiled as he walked into the stand with Anko in tail, holding up four fingers, "Four bowls of Jinsei, extra virgin, and a plate of dango for the lady." Ayame nodded mirthfully before going back to work on Naruto's 'special order'. "Jinsei? That's not anywhere on the men…oh" Anko said as a tint of pink rose to her cheeks, "Ayame and Teuchi are the only people, besides the third, Sasuke, and Sakura, that know. Sandaime-Jii supplies them with 'ingredients' to make a special ramen just for me."

Anko quirked her head as she thought about that, about what would be needed to make a proverbial 'Human bowl'. She shook her head of the thought as a heaping plate of dango was set before her. "Itadakimasu!" she said happily as she took a bite. She then looked over to Naruto who received his first bowl and broke chopsticks apart. The noodles were normal looking enough and the broth was what she could only assume was blood. "Noodle-thin strips of tripe and blood with extra plasma. As for garnish?" he picked up one of the small pieces of what looked to be an egg, just without the yoke and popped it into his mouth. "The eyes of a virgin."

Anko might have been sadistic in a way (well…no, she was just flat out messed up) but even thinking about what he was eating made her a little green around the gills. "Why a virgin?" she asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of her. "Well…" Naruto replied as he thought. "Neither I or Kurama know what causes the taste change between a virgin and non-virgin, but marginally, the taste of a virgin is far more…oh I don't know… _pungent?"_ he guessed, giving his hand a lazy wave as he slurped up more of the 'noodles'. "I see…" she said, nibbling at yet another stick of dango. "Do you ever…you know…miss human food?" she asked hesitantly, garnering a snicker, "Eh, I do sometimes, but when I think about what the Kyuubi has truly done for me? I don't mind it."

Anko nodded in understanding as they finished their meals and got ready to head back to the training grounds for the second phase of the exams, "I'm expecting greatness, Naru-kun, you better do well!" Naruto mocked a salute and moved to the crowd of Genin before Anko piped back up. "Alright you little shits, listen up! I am Mitarashi Anko, the proctor of the second phase!" Anko went into the explanation of the second phase and it was rather simple; collect both a heaven and an earth scroll for your team and make your way to the central tower in a fighting condition. Naruto grinned to Anko when she told them that there were no holds barred when it came to killing, and made the Genin teams sign release forms so the village wouldn't be responsible for any deaths. "Line up at the gates!"

A few people gave concerning glances to Naruto, who lined up at his own gate. ' _Ready, Kurama?'_ A deep chuckle resonated in Naruto's head as the fox spoke up, **"** **Let the games begin."** Naruto crouched low and lifted his mask up over the bridge of his nose. One detail he had personally done to his masks was had them embossed with the grin of an Oni, with its crimson skin and golden teeth. He looked over to the Genin team next to him and his eyes crinkled upward into a very familiar eye smile, slightly unnerving the team.

 _Oh how the fun would begin._

* * *

A shrill scream rang out through the forest as Naruto had claimed his first victim; a kunoichi from Takigakure that had decided to use the bathroom…at the wrong time. The eyes of the other Shinobi went wide when they heard the scream and turned back to its source. "You think she saw a giant spider or something?" one the shinobi asked. "I don't know, maybe…." The other Taki-nin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Yuki-chan! Are you alright?" A rustling in the bushes nearby put them on guard but what came out would forever be engrained into their souls, even in the afterlife.

Out of the bush came their teammate, except that she was crawling on her stomach with both legs missing, and her jaw completely ripped away and hanging loosely exposing her throat and tongue which was twitching uselessly. purple and red strands of muscle and vein hung loosely around the dangling jaw. The wild look in her bloodshot brown eyes was an indicator of one thing, and one thing only.

 _Run._

Naruto jumped out of the brush and landed on the girls back, giggling as he reveled in the kill. "I must thank Taki for the delicious Kunoichi they produce!" Naruto's mask was down, showing the sheer amount of blood that smeared about his mouth and neck. "You two look just as enticing!" Naruto's eyes were slitted and red which allowed for him to see thermally. Regardless of how good these two Genin were at hiding, it would not be enough. "Saa…" Naruto said, wiping his mouth. The two other Taki-nin went immediately on the defensive when Naruto completely disappeared from the area.

 _A fox, a fox, a fox I am!_

Naruto began reciting a little poem he had made up as a scare tactic for his prey as he circled around them on all fours like a stalking animal, using chakra to mask the source of his voice.

 _Oh sweetest, dearest, little lamb…_

An insidious cackle resonated through the air as one of the Taki-nin sputtered out with an obviously false bravado. "Y-yeah, ok, quit fucking around and face us like a real man!"

 _I wet my chops, my prey in sight…_

Naruto created shadow clones that rustled the bushes all around them, tricking the two into thinking he was truly Omnipresent

 _Oh how the fox will feast tonight!_

Naruto jumped from the bushes and tackled both Taki Genin as they were conveniently close together. "Itadakimasu!" Naruto yelled excitedly as he tore viciously into the Genin, their screams not lasting long since the blond Konoha shinobi had since ripped out both larynxes. Satisfied with his meal, Naruto searched them for the scroll he needed, cursing under his breath when he found the exact same one he had. **"** **Don't worry, Ningen, maybe you can use it to your advantage?"** Kurama suggested, soliciting a hum from the young blond, "You're right, Kurama, good thinking." Naruto stuffed the scroll into a pocket and hurried off to find a team with a heaven scroll.

After a few more hours of searching, Naruto caught a whiff of Sasuke and Sakura along with Kabuto who for some reason smelled strongly of snakes. He reached a high tree branch and sat there, taking in the smell when a new scent protruded his nostrils… _blood…and lots of it._ Becoming worried, Naruto made his way in their direction and came to a clearing. In the clearing, he saw Sasuke In the fetal position clutching his neck, and Sakura, who was on the ground with Kabuto holding a kunai to her throat. The both of them were in a very compromising position which gave Naruto the delusion that Kabuto was preparing to _rape_ Sakura. "Orochimaru-Sama has need only for Sasuke-Kun, you will die here."

Kabuto took the Kunai he was holding and plunged it down into the pink-haired Kunoichi's chest…over…and over…and over again, until Kabuto was completely sure she was dead. "No! Sakura!" Naruto leapt from the tree-line and swept at Kabuto who merely stepped aside. "You must be Naruto. I've heard so much about you from your teammates. It's a shame, really. She was quite the looker, and if my mission wasn't so critical, I would've had my way with her before she di-…" Kabuto was harshly interjected by a very dangerous low growl followed by a lunging attack by the now completely feral Naruto. "Oooh, I seemed to have struck a nerve in this wild soul."

Kabuto snickered as he began forming hand seals, "Orochimaru-Sama is already out of the forest, and I'm afraid I must cut my time here short. We will meet again soon, Naruto-Kun, Ja-ne." with a bright flash, the white-haired 'Genin' vanished completely, leaving Naruto to look over Sasuke's unconscious form and Sakura's rapidly cooling corpse. "I have to warn them!" Naruto weaved a few hand-signs and lifted a single hand shaped like a gun skyward " _Shingou!"_ a bright light shot from Naruto's fingertip and exploded after travelling high into the sky.

Not even a minute later, Anko appeared into the clearing followed by a few ANBU operatives. "Holy shit, Gaki, what happened here!?" Anko said as she took in the sight of Sakura and Sasuke's respective forms. "There's been a breach in the exams. An assailant known as Orochimaru and his accomplice, Yakushi Kabuto were responsible here!" Naruto replied, not missing the utter fear that washed over Anko's person. "G-Good work, Naruto-Kun, we'll take it from here." Naruto narrowed his eyes before walking over to Anko and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Who is Orochimaru?"

Anko looked down and slowly shook her head, the fear in her eyes not receding in the slightest, "He was my sensei a while back and he…he defected." She said quietly. Naruto wasn't sure just how bad this guy was, but it was clearly putting his Sensei under a great deal of distress. One of the ANBU operatives spoke up, "The Uchiha is alive, but the girl has passed on from blood loss." Naruto retreated from Anko and moved over to Sakura, studying her lifeless form closely. He crouched down and dipped two fingers into her blood-pool and brought them to his tongue. "What are you doing, Gaki? You're not going to eat her, are you? We need her corpse for an autopsy." Naruto shook his head, "No, I'm not. but curiosity got the better of me, I simply wanted to know."

Naruto stood up and fished a scroll from his pouch. "If Sasuke-Kun is able to continue? Give him this. I was originally going to try and track them down but…you know the rest." Anko nodded and Naruto fell back into the shadows, off to find another team.

* * *

Naruto and thirteen others made it to the preliminaries, including Sasuke, much to the blond cannibal's relief. "Glad you made it, Sasuke-Kun." Sasuke was silent, a downtrodden air about him. Naruto sighed and walked up to him wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "I'm going to miss her too, y'know? We just gotta keep going." Sasuke nodded and they walked up to the dais where they would all fight for a spot in the finals. The competition was thick, and Naruto was sure that Sasuke would definitely pull through. Sakura's death would play on the Uchiha's heart like a detuned piano, having only a month before, discovered feelings for the pinkette.

After quite an impressive bout of fighting, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, Gaara, Dosu, Temari, and Kankuro, all made it to the final round which would take place in a month. Naruto was wary of anyone he was made to fight, but no one gave him more discomfort than the red-headed Suna Shinobi only a few feet down the line. **"** **Watch him closely, Ningen, I sense my brother Shuukaku in him."**

 **"** **That blond one….I sense the fox in him…oh how his blood will sit on my tongue like fine wine!"** Gaara bit his lip till it bled, attempting to quell the animosity within him. He wouldn't strike out…

 _Not yet._

Sarutobi approached the line of Genin and took a drag from his pipe. "You have all fought admirably. In one month's time, you will face one another in the final round of the Chuunin exams. The bracket will be as follows!" Sarutobi gestured to the board as a large bracket with a series of names appeared. Naruto looked for his name and found that he was to face off against with the Hyuuga boy. He gulped deeply as he saw Gaara's name next to Sasuke's, generally worried about the well-being of one of his only good friends. "We look forward to seeing you all next month, do your villages proud!" and with that, everyone dispersed.

* * *

Orochimaru cackled as he mulled over his notes. The old snake had the Uchiha, marking him for future reference. "This is good, Kabuto-Kun, once we have the Uchiha boy, my immortality will be complete, and Konoha will be nothing more than a bad memory in the process." The bespectacled medic-nin stepped forward, a slight frown creasing his face. "I have reason to believe that it will be more difficult than that, If I may, Orochimaru-Sama?" The pale shinobi scoffed and merely gestured for him to continue. "Sasuke-Kun seems to be very oriented on staying in Konoha, and I believe there will be one hiccup in our plan if he pulls through." Orochimaru was intrigued, "Oh? And who is this 'hiccup'?" Kabuto pushed his glasses back up and produced a single card with information scribbled on It and a picture.

 _"_ _His name is Uzumaki Naruto."_

* * *

"Alright Gaki, we've got a month to train you for the finals and I don't plan on standing the fuck around until then. So lose the weights and give me pushups until _I_ puke!" Naruto slipped his top layers off and threw them to the side, leaving craters where they landed signifying that they were weighted. He unzipped the top of his jumpsuit and tied it around his waist, leaving his chest completely exposed to the world. Anko's eyes widened only slightly before looking away with a very light blush.

For a thirteen year old, Naruto was pretty built which was something that she wouldn't dare say to anyone. His body, his blood…and the fact that he was one of the only people she considered a friend besides Ibiki, all gave her more reasons to truly see him as one of her precious people. That and he was fairly handsome, intelligent, kind…. _'_ _whoa…shit, slow down you fuckin' pedophile, he's only thirteen and you're almost nineteen…but still…_ ' Anko was broken out of her musings by small grunts coming from the young blond. "six hundred and ninety…eight….Six hundred and ninety…nine…" Naruto finished his seven hundredth push up and got up, stretching his muscles and popping his neck, a fine sheen of sweat coated his body which once again garnered a small blush from the Kunoichi out embarrassment; she had been doting over the blond long enough for him to complete his 'warm up', "Ano…Anko-Sensei, you doing alright?" the blond asked with a slight grin, her blushing not completely lost to him.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, get into the stance, I'm going to teach you a few new tricks." Naruto nodded and slipped into his form. This taijutsu was known exclusively to him as the 'Oni no mai' which was a combination of the assassin's stance and his own feral style, making for a rather deadly combination. "Come at me with the intent to kill, and watch my responses closely." Naruto lunged forward and dipped under a waistline punch with a sweeping kick which threw Anko slightly off balance. Naruto used this leverage and swiped upward, but Anko caught it and spun him off of his guard.

"Again!" she shouted as Naruto leapt at her once more, this time finding a rather sizable hole in her defense, **"** **Dodge right and kick upward."** Kurama added in, ' _Way ahead of you, fur ball'_ Naruto thought bemusedly as he leaned right and threw his leg up high, nailing the snake mistress in the chest. "I see that you found the hole, good, now try it again. This time I won't make my vulnerability so pronounced." Naruto nodded and threw himself at Anko, soliciting a gasp from her when he disappeared in a shunshin… ' _no, this isn't a shunshin…I couldn't feel the chakra spike…'_ Anko froze when she felt the cold steel of a kunai against her neck. "It's a _Shunpo._ It was something I read about in those scrolls you gave to me. Mighty useful if I do say so myself."

Anko ducked and rotated to try and strike at Naruto's chest, but found herself in a grip that put her against Naruto facing him. "If you move in any direction, your arm will pop right out of its socket." Naruto said with a mirthful grin. Anko however wasn't paying attention at the moment. The purple haired Tokubetsu Jounin was currently taking in the proximity of their bodies, catching a whiff of Naruto's earthen scent and looking right into his crystal blue eyes.

"Anko-Sensei, you're spacing again." Anko gulped and nodded as Naruto released the grip. "You've gotten better, Gaki." She looked around the training ground clearing and noticed that the sun was beginning its descent from the noon position, telling her that it was roughly one or two in the afternoon. "lets go get lunch or something." She said, soliciting a nod from the blond Chuunin hopeful. Yeah, lunch sounded good.

* * *

Gaara couldn't stand it, he wanted to head up with the Uzumaki boy but all he got was some nobody Uchiha. He slammed his sand fist into a tree as he attempted to quell his anger. "I want _blood!"_ he yelled as the tree toppled over. He brought his sand around and caught a rabbit that had gotten too close for comfort, squashing it with a sickening squelch under his sand coffin. **"** **In due time Gaara, you will have your blood. Your father will be most pleased when you slaughter everything during the invasion. You'll have your chance then."** Gaara landed on his rear and sat there, pondering whether or not his father was completely sane in attacking Konoha. However all thoughts were halted when he simply reveled in the fact that he would have his chance.

 _His chance for blood._

* * *

Anko sighed as she bit into her dango. Her blond charge sitting next to her slurping up a bowl of hot 'ramen'. "A ryou for your thoughts, Anko-Sensei?" Anko looked over to Naruto who was wiping his face with a napkin. "I was just thinking about things, none of it concerns you, Gaki." Naruto simply shrugged and ordered another bowl. Anko couldn't help but worry as she nibbled on the little green dumpling, ' _Please just…please just leave this village alone. I don't want to see you ever again…'_ Naruto got up from his seat and left some money on the counter. "thanks for the meal guys, I'll catch you at the training ground in an hour, Anko-Sensei." He lazily flicked his hand and began his trek down the street.

Naruto found himself in deep thought, letting his feet simply carry him, ' _You've already taken a life and potentially ruined another.'_ Naruto thought back to Sakura who was brutally murdered and Sasuke, who just hadn't been the same since, especially with that strange new mark on his neck. ' _I swear to Kami, If I find you…I will tear you to shreds.'_ Naruto looked up to the sky, a new fire burning in his eyes. Both Anko and Naruto's mental dialogues reaching a simultaneous shout.

' _Orochimaru!'_

* * *

 **Yo guys, It's KingKaze and….wow….I didn't really expect the story to blow up like it did. God you guys are awesome! I'm sorry if the action and blood were lacking. This is all merely buildup to the finals (there will be a lot of action next chapter, I promise you!). And yeah, I killed off Sakura. I don't think that she was too important to this story, she wasn't too incredibly important to Naruto, even though he merely cared for her well being. But Sasuke on the other hand? He was beginning to develop feelings, which will drive him further down the line. By the way…What do you guys think of this extremely OOC Sasuke? Naruto befriended him at a younger age and showed him that strength could be found in friends and other such things, steering him away from the brooding, and power-hungry character that he became post massacre.**

 **How will this affect his decision to leave the village? How will the final round of the Chuunin exams play out? And will Gaara's bloodlust be sated like it was in canon, or will that play out differently?**

 **Find out next time in chapter three of 'Fox in the Flesh!'**

 **Kaze out!**

 **Translations:**

 **Shingou –** Signal

 **Jinsei –** Life, alive, live

 **Dobe –** Dead last, loser

 **Tokubetsu Jounin –** Special Jounin, A Jounin that specializes in a certain field (i.e Interrogation, Assassination, reconnaissance, etc.)

 **Oni no Mai –** Demon Dance

 **Shunpo –** Flash step (From the Anime _Bleach_ )


	3. A filthy snake

"The first round is between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji." Genma shouted as the crowd broke into cheering. "Begin!" Naruto was put immediately on the defensive as he dodged blows left and right from the esteemed Hyuuga branch member, trying not to let the boy's fingertips contact any of his body parts. Deftly, Naruto prodded at an opening in Neji's defense with a swift kick which was in turn, dodged and reciprocated with an upwards strike to the under-side of the knee.

"Fuck!" Naruto yelped as he jumped back, instantly feeling the joint that wasn't in its place. "You are fated to lose, Uzumaki, So surrender now!" Naruto rolled his eyes as he stood up, having the ability to fight with just one leg, using the other for only balance. It wouldn't heal simply because the Nine-tails chakra couldn't reach it due to a sealed pathway. "Oh that stick is so far up your ass that I could spit roast you with it!" a series of snickers rang out from the crowd at the jaunt, as no one had ever really lashed out at the Hyuuga prodigy like that. "Enough!" Neji lunged forward and tried to move back into his eight trigrams form but Naruto had already averted, moving to counter the otherwise annoying style. He put some distance between himself and Neji, withdrawing a few kunai to create a diversion.

 _'I have only one chance to pull this off!'_

* * *

Hiruzen watched from the Kage booth, Naruto had certainly flourished under Anko's tutelage. The door to the booth opened as the Kazekage moved in to sit next to the old man. "Lord Hokage I see that your shinobi are showing great promise." Hiruzen nodded, a grin tugging at his lips, "likewise, I cannot wait to see what Sand has brought to the table." The Kazekage chuckled and let his gaze wander to the crowds where he could see the sand-siblings all sitting near each other. In only ten minutes he would give the signal to start the carnage _. 'And then I can make off with Sasuke…my sweet, sweet prodigy.'_ Hiruzen narrowed his eyes only slightly as he hazarded a glance towards the blue-robed Kage, _'Something's off about you, Lord Kazekage…I'll be watching you very closely.'_

"Rotation!" a blue dome of chakra deflected yet another volley of Shuriken before Neji started to become irritated. "Face me like a real warrior, Uzumaki! Or are you such a coward that you would stick to your petty little scraps of steel?" Neji taunted, smirking with satisfaction. "How about you use those eyes like a real Hyuuga, Neji!" Neji's eyes widened as the ground began to rumble. "Wind Style: Hand of God!" Neji barely had time to dodge as the pressure around him increased dramatically, pressing the area he was standing on into the shape of a large hand. The Hyuuga landed gracefully but winced at the pain that was coursing through his left leg.

"That was impressive, Uzumaki, but like I said, you are fated to lose! I will not warn you again!" Neji was once again caught completely unaware as Naruto flashed from the opposite end of the field to directly behind him in a matter of seconds, "And It is fated for you to shut the fuck up!" Naruto brought an arm around the Hyuuga's neck and pulled him down while bringing a knee up into Neji's spine, cracking it in several different places. Neji screamed as torrents of pain shot through his body and fell to the ground, completely unable to move. "H-how?" Neji asked, not looking at the smirking cannibal. "Oh the flash step works wonders once you have the right opening."

"The winner is Uzumaki Naru-…" Genma, the referee, didn't finish his sentence as he fell to the ground unconscious. Naruto raised an eyebrow before an explosion rocked the Kage booth. "Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me!" Naruto huffed out as he pulled his Oni mask up. He jumped up to the stands and saw Sand ninja alongside some unknown village's ninja engaging the few Konoha forces that hadn't fallen for the Genjutsu. "Hey, kid!" Anko came up to Naruto's side, distress and utter fear coursing through her being. "What's the matter, Anko!? What's going on!?" Anko caught her breath and could only mutter one word.

'Orochimaru'

* * *

A magnificent spray of blood flew in every direction as Gaara had crushed a few more Konoha Chuunin and Jounin In a massive sand coffin. "Kill, Kill, Kill!" The Jinchuuriki of the One tailed Raccoon was giggling maniacally as he tore through everything, civilian and shinobi alike. "Where are you, fox boy!?" Gaara sniffed around until he locked eyes on that familiar head of blond hair, growling in elation. "Naruto!" Gaara roared out, garnering the attention of said Shinobi.

"Mind him, boy. Shuukaku is invading his mind more than usual!"Kurama warned. Naruto ducked out of the way of the blow only to find a tendril of sand wrapped about his leg, crushing it painfully. "Gah, fuck! Anko, get out of here!" Naruto yanked his leg from the sand and went down on all fours.

"I've been waiting for this, Kurama! Now let me feast upon your container's delicious flesh!" Naruto grit his teeth, realizing he would have to go _there_ just to beat this guy. _'Let two titans clash, Kurama!'_ Naruto felt his body pulse through with malicious chakra and let his bones snap and reform to allow him more leverage in his feral state of mind, his eyes moving from crystal blue, to deep and bloodied crimson.

Gaara lunged forward with a roar and brought Naruto into a chokehold, dragging him down to the ground. Naruto rapped his hind legs around the boy, pinning him and thusly reversing the grip, allowing Naruto to begin tearing into Gaara's neck. However, instead of flesh, Naruto was greeted with a mouthful of sand which cued him to leap off of the boy to save himself from being impaled by a multitude of sand spikes.

"Stand still and let me kill you!" Gaara roared out as he was once again on the offensive. Naruto opened his mouth and let bubbles of chakra form in front of his face, "Beast Nova!" the massive gathering of Chakra lashed out in a bright, ferocious beam that impacted against the giant wall of sand that had erected seconds before. "Oh for fuck's sake, we can't get close to him without that overgrown raccoon getting in the way!" Naruto growled out, allowing his tenant more control.

"Then let's get Shuukaku out of there and beat him down!" Kurama responded with the same exasperation. "Right…but how exactly are we going to get him out?" Kurama chuckled before licking his lips.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, boy."

* * *

Orochimaru was sly like a snake, of course living up to his namesake. However he had always encountered one proverbial block in the road, one living human being that always managed to thwart his plans, regardless of how the snake-man went about it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.

"It's been quite a while, Sarutobi." Orochimaru hissed out as he stared his teacher down, waiting for the old man to make the first move. "It really has, Orochimaru. I hope you have been doing well?" The snake-man chuckled and lowered himself into a practical taijutsu stance, "Better than you, you old crone." Hiruzen merely shrugged and shed his robes to reveal full battle armor. Both of them looked off to see two beastly figures tearing at each other, Hiruzen visibly blanching, 'Naruto!' A large barrier shot up and surrounded the two shinobi, trapping them in a death-match. "The barrier is up, Lord Orochimaru!" one of the Shinobi who was casting the jutsu yelled out.

Orochimaru shot forward and began prodding at the old man, looking for any viable holes in his defense as Hiruzen worked up a counter-offense. When Orochimaru reached out, the Hokage ducked left and chopped upward, striking at the snake's wrists and working his way up to grab his old student. "I see that you haven't rusted in your old age, Sarutobi-Sensei." Orochimaru jeered, moving just out of grabbing range to sweep low and knock the old man off balance. "Earth style: Great pillars of judgment!" Hiruzen slammed his palms to the ground and great pillars of dirt sprung out, attempting to trap Orochimaru in a rock hold.

"What do you want with Sasuke?" Hiruzen asked, not oblivious to Orochimaru's goal. "I merely need him for the finalization of my plan! I am getting old as well, Sensei. The Uchiha boy is the perfect candidate for my immortality!" Hiruzen's eyes widened. How sick could someone get to actually steal away children to take over their bodies? 'I've gotta end this quickly!' Hiruzen thought as he began weaving hand-signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" A poof of smoke brought forth a full grown ape donning old-era samurai armor. "Young lad, how may I be of assistance?" The monkey summon, known as Enma, froze when he caught a whiff of his summoner's old student. "I see…well then lets do this, boy!" Enma flashed white and transformed into a five-foot bo staff.

"You are correct. Let us stop playing, Sarutobi." Orochimaru looked up and upchucked a long sword which he grabbed and settled into a Kenjutsu stance. Both master and student's trails of thought meeting at one conclusion before clashing once more.

'Let us finish this!'

* * *

Gaara screamed out in agony as his body swarmed itself in sand, forming the outline of Shuukaku's body. "Told you I'd get him out, boy!" Naruto snickered and dropped into a preparatory stance. "Never said you couldn't, you old fox!" The overgrown raccoon jumped forward and grappled out at Naruto, locking the two in a deadly wrestling match. Realizing that neither would progress, Naruto opened his maw and began collecting for another Beast Nova. Shuukaku could do nothing to block the attack and took the full brunt of the blast, punching a massive hole in its core, also puncturing through Gaara. "Impressive Kurama, but you've lost your touch!" the sound of flesh reattaching and bones popping back into place filled the air as the hole in Gaara's body fixed itself, a pink layer of skin finalizing the reconstruction.

"That wasn't all of it, you ignorant fool!" Naruto dashed forward and clung to the still staggered raccoon, biting into it to find that it was indeed flesh instead of sand. Naruto kept tearing into the beast, letting blood and flesh fly all over the place as he penetrated the one-tail's first defense, eventually reaching Gaara. "Get off me you conceded fox!" Shuukaku tried to push the demon carrier off but to no avail as the muscle and bone around his available arm was completely gone. "It's time for you to go back into your cage for good, Shuukaku!" Naruto formed the third and final Beast Nova however, Shuukaku was ready, forming his own. The beasts flew from each other and released their full blast beams of raw energy, soliciting a blinding white light followed by one of the biggest explosions that Konoha had seen, wiping out an entire district of homes and shops.

Naruto fell from the air, the blast depleting everything he had without killing him, tearing his legs and arms asunder as well as tearing just about every muscle in his body. Before he could hit the ground, he was caught in a pair of gentle arms that landed gently on to the roof of a building. "A…Anko…" Naruto sputtered out as he took in the worried look of his Sensei. "Don't speak, Naruto, save your strength." Naruto went against her will and continued anyway. "Di...did…did I get h-him?" Anko looked up and over to the street where Gaara lie unconscious, but still very much alive. "Yeah, you got him, kid."

A loud explosion resonated over the atmosphere, causing both parties to look up and over to the large purple arena where The Hokage and Orochimaru were duking it out. Anko's eyes widened in horror as her hand subconsciously moved up to her neck where that damnable seal had rested. Ever since she had escaped Orochimaru's clutches, she had lived in absolute fear, not wanting anything to do with said snake-man. This had sent her into a state of delirium, "N…no!" she began, muttering under her breath as she felt the seal begin to heat up, "p…please just leave…leave me alone.." She backed off from Naruto, who was doing everything he could to stay up. "please don't…no more snakes…no more experiments…please…just lea-…"

Anko's muttering, shaking, and fearful form ground to a screeching halt as she felt a pair of warm arms envelope her, a mop of matted, bloody, and dirt caked hair resting against her head. "It's ok Anko…" Naruto's hand came up to gently rest on the back of her head. He took a ragged and very tired breath, coughing up a bit of blood and bile before speaking. "He won't hurt you…I won't allow it…" Anko's wide eyes began to mist up before she let very few, but very heavy tears escape, "that is a promise..." with that said, Naruto finally fell unconscious, leaning his full deadweight against her. She reciprocated the hug and let her own hand rest against the back of his head before standing to rush him to the hospital, his condition beginning to dawn more and more on her.

"Stupid…stupid kid..."

* * *

"You've reached your end, Hiruzen! Prepare to die!" Orochimaru formed a few hand signs as chakra began to envelope his blade, extending its reach and sharpness. "Perhaps my end is here…finally.." Hiruzen bit his thumb and drew blood, weaving a multitude of hand seals. The sword drew nearer to the old Kage as he closed his eyes and held his hands out in front of his body, drawing a deep breath. "But you will die with me!" he snapped his eyes open as the sword pierced his chest. "Death….seal.." A laugh resonated through the makeshift arena and Orochimaru found himself held in place.

"The contract is sealed….you will rest in the pits of my stomach, Ichizoku no Orochimaru." The Shinigami that had made itself known grabbed the blade that rested in its mouth and reached into the Snake sage's chest… "Damn….you….Sarutobi!" Orochimaru fought the Death God's pull adamantly, letting the creature pull the soul from his arms only before he broke the hold, dispelling the jutsu. "You almost had me, Sarutobi-Sensei…but you threw your life away for nothing." He cackled before getting to his feet, hobbling away towards the wall of the barrier. "I will be back for Sasuke-Kun, and Konoha will fall then, let's go you four!" the barrier dropped and they all fled quickly. Thus ending the Konoha invasion, and the life of the Sandaime Hokage.

"…Chakra exhausti…."

Thu thum

"…ultiple laceration…"

Thu thum

"…blood loss..."

Thu thum

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and squinted, accommodating for the excess light. He very slowly tried to sit up but found himself restrained just from the sheer amount of tubing running to him. Pumps and wires were attached to him left and right, apparently it was far worse than he had garnered. He narrowed his eyes as he felt yet another weight…on his chest? He tilted his head just far enough to catch the outline of purple hair. "An…ko…." he said through his oxygen mask. The head of hair shifted before lifting up to look at him with weary eyes. "hey kid…how are you feeling?" she asked groggily, but happy since he had actually woken up.

"Like…lead" he said slowly. It was all he had the energy to say, he didn't know why the fox wasn't intervening. "Im…just as drained..as you are boy…we used…all of our…reserves.." the fox said, the strain obvious in his voice. A doctor walked into the room with a clipboard writing a few things down before looking to him. "You reeaaallly fucked yourself on this one Naruto. Severe chakra exhaustion, lacerations all over your body, second and third degree burns all over, multiple broken bones in the chest and pelvic area, a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, and finally a very severe cardiac dysrhythmia that could very well return if you press yourself to do anything other than breathe and talk too soon."

'God fucking damnit!' Naruto chided internally. "How…long?" He asked, trying but failing to say more than one syllable in between breaths. "I'd say a solid three months since your 'friend' is also out of commission for a while." Naruto depended on the Kyuubi's chakra to heal him rapidly, however, Kurama had also depleted himself down to zero and it took quite a bit of time for a tailed beast to regain lost chakra, feeding off their host's chakra just enough to slowly put themselves back together without killing the Jinchuuriki. This in turn left the Jinchuuriki in an extremely weakened state.

"An…ko…" Naruto said, slowly beckoning the Kunoichi to lean in to hear her student better. "Are…you…al…right?" he asked. Anko shook her head scoffing incredulously. "You're on the edge of death itself and you ask me if I'm alright? Jeez…yeah, I'm fine kid. I'm going to leave you to rest. I'll bring you something to eat when you're fit enough to, alright?" Naruto tried to nod, luckily dipping his head low enough for Anko to understand.

She nodded in response and turned heel to exit the room. As soon as she closed his door, she slid against the wall to the ground crying. "God damnit, kid!" she growled under her breath as she hugged herself, attempting to quell the sobbing. "asking me if I'm alright…the fucking nerve…" she said, staring at the ground through watery eyes. The thought of one of her precious people so close to death scared the absolute shit out of her. One of the only people to acknowledge her as a human being, one of the only people that gave her more than just attention, the one she saw as a good friend…

The one she loved…

* * *

Naruto slowly sat up with the help of Kakashi, easing into an upright position to eat solid food for the first time after a month of drinking blood and eating pureed soft meat. Kakashi was like Sakura, slightly unnerved with the blonds choice in food, but found reason when Naruto explained himself. The Third Hokage had even set a little system up where he would harvest from recently deceased death row inmates, allowing the boy to eat.

"How are you feeling today, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, his eye curved upward to signifying that he had been smiling. "Tired…not in pain but just…slow." He responded, still having a slightly difficult time drawing in deep breaths to speak as his lung was not yet completely healed. "Has the Ninetails begun to assist you in the healing?" He asked lazily, leaning back to read. "I'm currently telling him….to rest, I don't want him to use…any chakra on me until…he feels like it." Naruto said slowly, attempting not to lose his breath. The door opened and Anko walked in calmly, holding a bundle of flowers. The Kunoichi blushed wildly as Kakashi waved lazily, not bothering to look up at her.

"Anko Sensei…It's good…to see you." Naruto said smiling even as he took short breaths in between his sentences. The tired and still ragged tone in his words sent a pain through her heart but she knew that he would pull through, and she would be able to train him once again. "Yeah, you too, Kid. It's good to see you sitting up. Won't be long at all until I'm able to slave drive you again!"

Naruto blanched more against his already paled skin, grinning sheepishly. "That vixen is fucking insane." Kurama said quietly. _'I concur.'_ Naruto responded in his head.

"Well, I'll just leave these here if you and Kakashi are busy?" Anko asked, slightly furrowing her brow. "Oh, no, that won't be an issue. I was just about to head out and let him eat." Kakashi said with a signature eye smile, gesturing to the blond behind him. Anko nodded and the silver haired jounin slipped out of the room, giving a lazy wave to the both of them.

It was not abnormal for Anko to visit her blond charge almost every chance she got, seeing as how she was bored out of her skull and he was the only person she talked to anymore outside of her realm of work. It was in those visits that she really got to know Naruto on a more human level. She had absolutely no idea of how he could keep smiling through something that would bring a grown man to his knees with tears but this kid…he was something else. He may have only been a few years younger than the special jounin, but he was so much more…mature..

Anko sat next to the hospital bed and studied the sleeping blond teenager one warm morning when the door to the room began opening slowly, startling the jounin. She casually slipped a hand under her trench coat and clasped a kunai in her hand, ready to strike. After the tension reached a peak, she sprung silently from her chair and landed in a 180, ready to meet some form of resistance. "My my, someone's rather overprotective."

Anko's eyes widened as she stowed her kunai away and turned to the source of the voice coming from the window. "It's been too long." She said. The white haired man smiled and scratched the back of his head before looking down to the sleeping figure.

 _"It's time for Naruto to meet his ol' uncle Jiraya."_

* * *

 **Boom, another installation of FITF ready for y'all. I actually wrote this a while back, but I took some time to finish it and look it over, I hope it's to your guys' liking. Any feedback for the improvement of the story would be greatly appreciated.**

 **(In a past chapter, I do realize that I sort of rushed Sakura's death, but in my defense, she was a pretty minor character coming from Naruto's perspective, I'll be sure to add some of Sasuke's perspective which is a tad more angsty.)**

 **More in the future!**

 **Kaze Out!**


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